Mosaic in Morocco: Inlaid Leather Bindings

Leather has been a common and traditional material used in bookbinding for centuries and centuries. It's pliable, can be stretched and cut easily, absorbs dye, and adds to the beauty and aesthetic appeal of a volume. While not without its problems - susceptibility to extreme temperatures, moisture and humidity, light exposure and more - leather is still often the binder's choice for fine jobs, though synthetic equivalents are popular as well as various cloths.

The most traditional leather bindings are sheep, roan (a thinner, cheap sheep leather), calf and goat, and goat leather is called morocco. Morocco is the most common type of leather used in the books on display here, which all boast exquisite examples of leather inlays. Inlaid leather is a style of binding decoration where the binder inserts pieces of leather - of a pre-determined color, cut, shape and size - into an existing leather binding to create a pattern, often mosaic or a quilt-like effect. The different colored leathers can be anything from abstract patterns and designs to nature scenes, floral decorations or portraits of people.

Any of these would make a fantastic and eye-catching addition to a collection, or a wonderful gift - especially if you know a couple celebrating their third wedding anniversary, as leather is the traditional gift.